Under pressure to fulfil its populist commitments, the Mamata Government has borrowed heavily from the market taking the total debt burden to about Rs3.13 lakh crore, Finance Ministry sources said.
In the past two months, the State Government has borrowed about Rs4,500 crore in three installments taking the per capita loan share to about Rs32,000. This means “every baby born has a loan of Rs32,000 on it,” said a senior Ministry official.
In the beginning of April this year, the total debt amount for Bengal stood at Rs 3.04 lakh crore which has shot up to about Rs3.13 lakh crore, sources said. When the Trinamool Congress Government came to power in 2011 the State had a debt burden of Rs1.92 lakh crore.
In the past 66 months year the Government has borrowed about Rs1.21 lakh crore. In 2011 when the State’s population was about 9.13 crore the per capita debt burden stood at about Rs 21,130. In 2016 the per capita debt burden stands at about Rs32,000 for a total population currently 9.67 crore.
In terms of debt Bengal currently stands in the third position after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, sources said.
Explaining the huge borrowing by the State Government a senior Trinamool leader and a Minister said the “most of the debt is taken to serve the interest of the loan taken by the previous left Front Government in its 34 years’ rule. The situation is such that a huge amount of money raised from revenue has to be spent to pay the interest of the debt taken by the earlier Government.”
However, left legislature Party leader Sujan Chakrabarty said the most of the loan taken by the Government is spent on populist and non-planned schemes. “The money taken in loan is wasted by way of giving grants to the clubs every year. Hundreds of cores of rupees are given as loan to clubs in the name of social schemes but in reality these clubs are used to influence the voters during the elections.”
Congress leader Manoj Chakrabarty said the Government also wastes money in unproductive projects like giving award money to celebrities.
On the huge expenditure incurred in constructing roads the former Minister and MlA said the funds in such cases mostly came from the central government.
Incidentally the Chief Minister in her July 21 public speech changed the line of attack insofar as the State’s debt burden is concerned. While all these years she would blame the left Front Government for leaving a huge debt on July 21 she said the faulty loan policy of the Centre led to the piling up of debt burden on the States.